Augusta man who killed neighbor's dog pleads guilty

A Chester Avenue resident who shot and killed a neighbor’s dog pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct.

Pablo C. Chaves, 35, was arrested on Feb. 17 after deputies found Chaves with a bloody chain saw and dead dog.

Defense attorney Bobby Christine told the judge in Richmond County Superior Court that Chaves was in his own fenced-in back yard with more than a dozen guests when the neighbor’s rottweiler-pit bull mixed dog jumped the fence, attacking two of his pets, killing one. The dog had previously killed one of Chaves’ dogs and was known to have killed other pets in the neighborhood.

Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet accepted the plea negotiation and sentenced him to time served.

The owner of the dog, Marquis Jackson, was cited for failure to keep animal under control in the incident. He pleaded guilty March 21 in Richmond County Magistrate Court and was sentenced to six months probation and fined $400. The conditions also include making restitution and not to own any more dogs.

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The dog jumped a fence into the guy's yard, attacked two of his pets and killed one. The dog had already killed one of his pets and had killed others in the neighborhood. All of that and the guy still gets charged with something? What the ......? Meanwhile in Texas, a man walks after shooting and killing an escort because she wouldn't have sex with him. In Florida, you can stalk a guy until he reacts, then murder him because "you feel threatened". Man, we need a major redo of the laws in this country.

The original story run by AC, was not fully fleshed out. This caused statements to be made, including myself, that were wrong. The dog trespassed, had done it before, and had killed before. Not in agreement with the chainsaw, but the actual shooting of the dog was justified.

Why would anybody even think about owning a dog like that in a neighborhood and leaving it outside? And if you do then keep it in the house so it can protect the house and not be a danger to the neighbors. I love animals and have three babies myself but have no use for vicious dogs of any kind.

A person having his head smashed into concrete after having his nose broken doesn't merely "feel threatened". He's struggling to stay conscious and alive. Defending himself in any way possible is entirely a matter of survival and not an act of homicide against the attacker.

If you don't believe that, perhaps you should try it yourself. Come into my neighborhood and look/act out of place and somebody is going to watch what you do and where you go, as they are calling the police. And a lot of people in my neighborhood carry.

And that doesn't equate in any way to the apparent injustice of being punished for being forced to defend yourself and your property from a vicious dog attack because your neighbor is a thoughtless, careless, antisocial moron.

Even you should be able to discern the difference between those two situations instead of lumping them together as if they had anything in common at all.